Himeji and Tours End

I type this from the lobby of the Tokoyo Inn just south of Himeji Station. I spent a very comfortable night wasting hours on end via a laptop rental service. This is due to be my last post in the context of the pre-study tour, but there should be amble sources of interest generated from the coming weeks. In line with that Ive just changed my blog settings to allow anyone to comment, so comment away.

The weather here has turned, overcast and wet, but a very comfortable 20c. This in no way diminished the epic sight of Himeji Castle, which should definatley appear on the itinary (I know thats spelt wrong) of any tourist. However I would suggest prehaps devoting a day to it, but return on the train to another city to sleep. Other then the castle, there is nothing of tourist intrest here.

So thats that, tour over. The sights I saw were very impressive, and the people I met equally friendly. Im very glad to have started this year on a positive note, which helps me cope with British-based social politics. Missing everyone at home, but other then the people I left behind, so far Japan has Britain beat in nearly all aspects!

So with that I close the first chapter of my stay and look forward to starting the next as the streets of Kobe grow to know the name Munday.

Chow x

Kyoto in Review.

Temples.

Now I cant complain as that is exactly what I went to see, but Im set now to get down to some proper living and partying in Kobe. Having said that I really enjoyed my time there, with no small part being down to my fellow hostel-ites. To summerise the temples and the culture in Kyoto will be hard matched by anywhere else in Japan, and maybe even the world. Good job the Yanks didn't bomb it eh?

Ill just add a few photos to this blog to demonstrate the highlights, such as the golden pavillion at Kinkaku-Ji. The frustrating thing is that alot of the glorious internal exhibits and Bhuddas etc are classed as national treasures, and as such are protected by law from photography and even sketching. But I got to see them close up and they are beautiful. You'll just have to believe me. Of note was a temple not listed as one of the key sights, but within it countained a large golden Bhudda, flanked either side with 1000 unique smaller Bhudda statues, and various heavenly entities. It was truley awe inspiring.

Also at the castle of Nijo-jo fame, we saw how the Shogun would spend his time and how it was all managed. The shogun was a player!!! He had 99 problems but a bitch aint one. Not sure if the culture police will like the shogun being compared to Jay Z, but I mean it in the best possible way. Anyway, on with the photos! There are more on facebook x

Deep Fried Cheese, Geishas and the Moon Landing Conspiracy

Read as I now attempt to use the power of story telling to weave these seemingly random headlines into coherent prose. Last night was my last night out in Kyoto and having spent the day sightseeing with friends from the hostel, we headed into the Kyoto district of Gion. The main aim was for beer, food and merriment, but the location was more strategic then that. Gion is the best place to spot Geisha. [If you dont know what that is then wikipedia them]. We didnt spot any, we arrived prehaps 2 hours after the prime time, and it was already dark.

After food, which was like a Japanses savoury pancake with every ingredient in the world in it, we headed towards the bars. At this bar, the drinks flowed with warm and cold sake and Asahi beer on demand. Merriment ensued, especially as we realised we could order small skewerd treats such as fried cheese balls. The conversation flowed as free as the sake, when I commented that the original xbox was more powerful then the supercomputer that "put a man on the moon"

This was picked up on by our American cousin, and a debate raged that varied from the mechanics of engineering in the context of the 9/11 incident to Ahmedjinidad's favourite hollocaust deniers. It was good hearted debating, but the final result was 6v1 in favour of the moon landings being fake. You can work out who believed it.

It was a fitting evening for what was two days spent with fellow travelling souls who made my time in Kyoto, along with others at the hostel. Except for the guy that snored like a freight train. I hate you.

Me Fail Engrish? Thats Unpossible

There have been many amusing mistranslations, or just general rubbish English written all over the shirts and trousers of my Japanse friends. My favourite one so far has to be whats written on the bins of this hostel.

"Don't put liquid in the bin. IT MAKES STINK!"

Will update with anymore equally halarious examples. On another note, I spent about 3 hours last night listening to the loudest snorring in the WORLD. It was so bad I climbed out of my bunk, over to his, and poked him right in the skull. He was quiet for about 5 mins. Good news though, he will be here till I leave. Is it illegal to smother in Japan?

Kyoto Continued

So Im halfway through my stay in Kyoto, happy to see that whilst I was asleep the boys of Valley Floyd Road kept up thier unbeaten run. I enjoyed last night as I went into the heart of Kyoto's nightlife for some beer and sushi with a couple of the guys from the hostel. Both seasoned travellers, I acted like a tesco value interpreter for the night, impressing some girls with the equivilant of "best good resturant where?"

There have been plenty more sights seen, but if you want to see the pictures then check my facebook as usual. A short post, but I dont want to bore you with temple nonsense. Will update any interesting stories as they happen.

Laters x

I am not Ray Mears

Konichiwa minnasan, let me set the scene to this latest tale. I had just visited a temple complex in North East Kyoto, when I read a section of my guide book informing me of a path tucked away behind the temple leading to a shrine up in the forest. Now, at this point I had already been chased around a Zen garden by a large multicoloured buzzing insect, which if it was at home, would have warrented a scream.

As a side note, I continued my apparent knack for wildlife photography with a picture of this chap.

Anyway, having found the path I trecked up a near vertical staircase to see a shrine like any other. Dissapointed and very sweaty, I turned back. However in the corner of my eye I noticed the path continued beyond the shrine and further into the already dense forest.

Why not eh? I walked for a near 30 mins along a thin path, dodging small streams and large spider webs until I heard the worlds most eriee sound. No, not that weird noise foxes make when they fight outside your bedroom window, but nothing. Pure uniterupted silence. All this throughly freaked me out. It was carry on, or go back. I waited for a sign....

Like a bolt out of the blue a massive wasp attacked me and I ran all the way back, through spiderwebs and streams, over fallen trees and dead leaves all the way back. The smell summoned from my armpits after this excursion would be paid for by everyone on the bus on the way back.

Kyoto という意味のは Temples

Before I start sportsfans, just a reminder there is a whole host of pictures under the imaginitive album titles of "Japan Take 1" and.... "Japan Take 2" to accompany this blog. Anyway, my first post about Kyoto. The place Im staying in for the 5 nights is extremley cheap, and stunning! Complete with a zen garden and hairdryer, the place is a very comfortable stay. The staff are too good at english for me to practice my Japanese, but thats my fault for taking shelter from grammatical grenades. The only gripe is the Y100 per 20mins the computer costs. This is an issue only because the place is a couples fest! Luckily Im made of sterner stuff and with regular emails with the special one and Tom Crusie's acting in the Last Samurai for company, Im doing ok.

The issue is a result of the fact that what Ive planned to do per day leaves me back in the room by 3pm. Japanese tourist sites are more frequent but much smaller then British ones, so anyone planning to come out here would be advised to group as many as 6 or 7 sights into one day, including snesible time for travel. Not to belittle the temples beauty, far from it. But from a writters point of view repitition does not make for good prose. Neither does spelling mistakes, which I have been made aware are plentiful.

Anyway, pretty much all I have seen is temples, pictures of which are up on Facebook. I wont bore you with details of them on here, once I have time ill annotate the pictures briefly on Facebook. Ill leave you with some of the best photos now, and will update stories as they happen. Much love fans x

Eight Legged Freaks

As yet, I have not had any problems with bugs or insects since Ive got here. From what I can tell its all the usual stuff just bigger. The ants, spiders and butterflys are huuuuge. This thing you can see below nearly attacked me near a shrine in Nara. It was so huge I could see it breathing and I could look it right in the eyes.... It starred me down, and it took all I had in me to not scream. I had to sit down for 10 minutes afterwards.

Today in Kyoto I noticed a ant going round and round in a tiny circle. I bent down to look and I could swear it stopped, looked up, and gave me the finger. Having trod on him I crossed the nearby bridge and spotted a Japanese man feeding turtles and promptly climbed all over him to get a good photo, like any good tourist would.

Having annoyed the locals, I found a bench to eat my sushi (which by the way was amazing - ham and crab!) and noticed this little guy on the ground. Having dodged the feet of a seemingly endless parade of 13 year old Japanese school children (who would not stop saying hello to me), the poor creature had to endure a flash from a camera from about 5cm away, which to him must have been like a thermonuclear explosion. Good picture though.

This is for my mother. Stick that in your bird-watching pipe and smoke it!

Breaking the Kyoto Protocol

No.. not that protocol. I visited today the Imperial Palace in central Kyoto today, and thoroughly underestimated the walk to it from the southern entrance of the park. So once I finally reached the wall, I was frustrated to see that I was on the wrong side. In order to avoid the baking 30c heat, I hoped over a foot wide drain that ran around the walls, and walked along right up against the wall, with my headphones on, but importantly in the shade.

All of a sudden a police car roars up, I drop my headphones around my neck. The pleasing tones of the generic Japanese female announcer was replaced with angry male shouting. A alarm that would put my Cardiff halls of residence alarm to shame rang out over what seemed most of downtown Kyoto.

Turns out, what I was doing was naughty. Luckily no-one was watching, so no loss of face. And im here typing now so hopefully this means I escape deportation. The policeman didnt say anything, but he didnt need to. I know im just another gaikokujin dilluting Japanese culture.

Nara

I have just arrived at my new accomodation in Kyoto after a 1 hour train journey (that only cost 3 pounds!) and have since proceeded to start spamming out these blogs so that I dont forget whats happend. The most important of these musings is this record of my time in Nara.

Firstly the accomodation was lovley, with friendly staff that humoured my Japanese, was clean and comfortable, and had a robot toilet (more on those soon). After visiting the temple from the previous post, I returned to the accomodation where I met a fellow lone traveller called Chris (from Bolton), a multi-lingual Bulgarian man whose name escapes me, and another guy called Darius whom was accompanied by 5 girls (jammy) who had all met on the plane for the first time in a government sponsered art thingybob. They were all really nice people and we spend the night drinking beru, eating Japanese food and discussing various topics, from Japanese comics to the concepts of bordem and the politics of immigration.

As for the next day, having said my goodbyes as everyone mentioned above checked out that morning, I headed to the Nara Koen area and took myself on a tour around the park, which was teaming with tame deer, to see all the stuff they had there, which included a good few UNESCO world heratige sites. Some of it was absolutley breath taking, as you can see for yourself below..

Trains

In extention to the blog about Japanese xenophobia, I noticed I have been avoided on the trains and stared at by old women. This may be down to smelling like high hell, but its a weird sensation to be a minority, but I suppose issues with my own perception of race etc come into this. On another note, the condition of the trains are amazing. The conductor bows at each carrige door, the seats are comfortable, and so far the public transport system is living upto its name. Even the buses, which are less tourist friendly, are working out for me.

First Karaoke Night

Guess what this blog is about? On my second night in Kobe me and the boys went to a Karaoke bar about 10 minutes away from the hostel. It was very cheap considering you had a private booth with a million song choices and an all you can drink offer that was brought to your booth after you ordered over the phone. I can definatley see why the Japanese love it. Obviously Basim was awesome and made me look stupid again, but i owned a rendition of Korn's "Thoughtless", SOAD's "Toxicity" and Blur's "Parklife".

The Other Side to Japan

Just a quick update just to record the moment when I was turned away from a club for being white.. "Nihonjin dake" was what the bouncer said.. "Japanese only" imagine that in Britian? Also, some of the stuff that is legally sold in the shops is beyond comprehension. Still, can't complain, seen only 1 bit of graffiti in 4 days, and for a country with a very annoying lack of bins, there is such little rubbish. Everyone carries around little ash containers round thier necks... its another world folks.

D-Day +3

Sorry about the lack of updates eager readers, but this is the first chance Ive had to do anything other then send a few emails. The flight was longtings but we arrived safe and in reasonable condition. The flights were very comfortable and would recommend Emirates to anyone. The A380 was like a flying hotel. So we arrived and dropped our stuff off, only to see the shower room closed, which meant we didnt wash or change for almost 48 hours. This has since come to pass as stink-gate. Basim`s cousions and friends provided us dinner in a small, cosy, traditional resturant where I dived straight into the deep end with some raw jellyfish and snapper fish among other suprisingly delicious dishes.

Tired, smelly and looking like a Japanese anti-forienger poster campaign, we hit Kobe hard straight from the plane, but not as hard as my ear on the corner of a karaoke bar`s window... The night took a sureal twist, as we ended up in a tiny Russian themed car, obviously named KGB, where we partied with the Russian staff, with the only common language being drunken Japanese. Once Basim`s friend Quinton took over the DJ-ing, the night was complete in its oddness.



Since then I have left the company of Basim, George and Quin and headed to Nara, where Im writting from now. Visited a temple, whose name I will edit in later, and got some good photos, but only after getting there on a cocktail of goodluck, broken Japanese and a manly sense of direction.

Anyway Ill leave it there and plan to have much more regular and shorter updates, so as not to bore you all. Coming up is karaoke, trains and more temples then you can be bothered to read about. Talk soon my flock x

D-Day

So, officially the first day of my little excursion. Despite lifes efforts of trying to emotionally assassinate me, I'm in reasonably good spirits. Disregarding the fact that I have to get to Japan on one of these things...












Fans of the aviation industry will recongise this as the A380-800 and it is the largest passenger plane in the world. Now, Ive seen this monster fly, and its one of the oddest sights in the world. Seeing something bigger then sense defying physics is terrifying. I want to go to Japan, but being fired towards it at 600MPH in a glorified tin can with 799 other people?

Anyway, assuming I survive not one but two flights (of a combined 15.5 hours), this is where I will upload the best of my pictures and videos, complete with witty and interesting annotation. All in all im looking forward to round one of Japan vs. Munday...